Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!

Our best wishes to you all for a peaceful holiday season and
a healthy new year.

Our family had losses—my brother—and gains—two grandsons—this
year, as this life journey is wont to deliver.

Dr. John Burke, R.I.P.

On New Year’s
Day, while on a Panama cruise we learned that my older brother John had passed
away unexpectedly in Seattle. Our hurried return—at a time when most flights
were full—involved a convoluted route from the next port Cartagena, to Bogotá,
to Panama City, to San Salvador, and finally to LAX.

Then it was on to Seattle.
We attended a memorial service at UW,
where John had taught philosophy and been student adviser. Former students and
work colleagues paid tribute to him as a consummate and supportive teacher and
mentor. With son
Rev. David Burke
officiating, we spread John’s ashes on campus under Ionic columns in the Sylvan
Grove, a favorite meditative spot.

Mom’s Setback

My mother’s fall in their new home in Paso Robles, followed
by a hip replacement and weeks in a rehab was a setback in many ways, but we
knew she was ready to come home when she threatened to hit the cook with a breadstick
for failing to satisfy her culinary needs. It’s always good to speak your mind!

My dad worked on some gardening projects in their new home,
and has continued writing garden columns for various publications. In July he
and Larry took a hot-air balloon trip
over Paso Robles hills and wineries.

Springtime in Arizona

Spring break found
us again in Arizona, poking around Sedona, Scottsdale, Phoenix, and Tucson.
We learned some architecture history at Scottsdale’s
Taliesin
West, which the locals must have considered pretty far out when Frank Lloyd
Wright built it, and we wandered the Desert Botanical
Garden to admire the enormous glass exhibits by
Chihuly “planted” alongside desert cacti.

Auto Trip to Idaho, Bozeman, and Back

In mid-May, we headed north to visit friends and relatives
and tour portions of the western half of the
Colorado Plateau. We
enjoyed catching up with Carolyn and Jerry in Pollock Pines, CA, my cousins
Jane and Ramón in Elko, NV, the Uncle Jim Burke clan in Boise, and Aunt Jackie
Last’s family in Jerome.

With coaching from Aunt Ruby’s sister and a local police dispatcher,
we located the Burke family farm (1930-1950s) in
Burley, a visit that jogged many memories
from my childhood summer trips to the farm.

During our trek back, we drank in the natural beauty of this
country, a theme reinforced by Ken Burns’ recent
National Parks series on PBS.
In spite of rain and cloudy skies, the jewel-like colors of wet canyon walls
in the six national parks we visited were spectacular.

Cathy (“Law”) + Kirk and Tori

All our children and spouses are still employed, a blessing
in these struggling times.

Kirk’s still
working on deployment downtown in the new
Police Administration Building, studying for the lieutenant’s exam, and
teaching karate in his garage weekends.

Tori turns three mid-January, and has made impressive strides
with various therapies (speech, group, and child development) for developmental
delays diagnosed earlier this year.

Jenny (“Order”)

The Firm (Jones-Day) keeps Jenny busy with
cases for Fortune 500 companies balanced with pro bono domestic violence cases.
She’s pleased that she could prevent a man from kidnapping his children to another
country, and help a woman regain custody of her child after the abuser falsely
accused her of domestic violence.

Brian + Marion and Lucie, Nicky & Jamie

Marion and Brian upped our numbers and increased their stress
level by producing fraternal twin boys this fall. James and Nicholas arrived
September 24, at 5 lb each. They are now double that, eating every 2½ hours,
taking turns screaming, starting to smile and doing the things babies do, only
double!

Lucie is being a helpful big sister, but has to deal with
the reduced attention (best quote: “But I’m a baby, too!”). Marion’s mom Christine
spent ten weeks with them in Berkeley helping out, with Klaus arriving in November
to play “pass the baby around” and provide that Bavarian touch.

A part-time nanny now helps in the mornings, and Lucie still
has day-care. The three weeks Lucie spent with Klaus and Christine in Munich
last summer really improved her language; it’s humbling to hear her German fluency.

Brian’s job with
Adobe
has survived two rounds of lay-offs, and he seems optimistic about this next
year.

David

David’s
enterprise, Rockbox Media, has grown,
with an office, employees, and expansion plans for 2010. The business develops
online advertising technology that “monetizes” ads on
Facebook and
MySpace, primarily in the online dating
area. He’s become a familiar sight at MySpace’s Santa Monica office.

Among his revenue sources is
Match.com. I guess as long as there are single
folks looking to get connected, he’ll prosper. His contacts with various client
companies are extensive and he seems to enjoy this role.

Larry’s Still Playing with Computers

Larry continues his service as computer adviser for the church
and for countless other folks. He has created and maintains my new course website
at www.maryriggs.com.

He serves on a couple community committees, sometimes lamenting
the time they take away from daily Sudokus.

As the computer world is continuously evolving, Larry tries
to stay current. I recently noticed three books on
Joomla!, a web technology, stacked by his
keyboard.

School is about the same, except for this “furlough” program
and pay cuts. It’s sad to see the economic mess California has become. But I
still have work, so I won’t complain. The spring semester will have me teaching
three or four classes, not bad for a part-timer.

Much love and best wishes to you all this year.

We send you the season’s greetings and best wishes for a happy
and blessed 2009!